Thinking through solidarity organizing, with an eye to how we can better live the change, as well as how we often slip in to colonial patterns when working together across distance and difference. Written from the perspective of a long time US and now Canada based international solidarity activist turned political geographer.

Jul 3, 2013

public reading as protest

Wow, now not only yoga in Gezi, but public reading as protest?! Utterly fabulous.

Aljazeera reports that new form of protest has emerged in Turkey - the "Standing Man". As they put it:

With extraordinary speed, Gunduz become the latest symbol of
the resistance movement. In days that followed, thousands of people
would emulate his solitary act, standing silently, for minutes or hours,
in places across Turkey.

The contrast with the images of tear gas clouds and water
cannon could not have been greater. Faces obscured by masks and helmets
were revealed to show expressions of quiet contemplation.

Violent scenes are still occurring around Turkey, including in
Istanbul once again this past weekend, but the Standing Man protests
continue unabated.

The following images explore one aspect of the protest in
Taksim Square, ongoing since before the communal standing took off.
Public reading and informal education has been notable since the
earliest days of the protest, but has since merged with the Standing Man
to form "The Taksim Square Book Club".

Reading a book publicly in protest sounds like way more fun than listening to rally speeches. Lets make this tactic travel! (more fabulous photos here)